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Open Europe Today

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Open Europe Today is the go-to source for real-time analysis on breaking European affairs, delivered by Our Experts as they unfold. We are a non-partisan and independent policy think tank, committed to crafting and putting into action solutions to the European Union’s most pressing challenges.

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What are the chances of the UK leaving the EU during the next Parliament?

What Our Supporters Do

1,000,000 +

Our supporters employ more than one million people across the world. The men and women who place their trust in Open Europe, operate in every industry sector, and include leaders of FTSE 100 firms and small business entrepreneurs. All of them support Open Europe in a personal capacity.

Björn Fröling

Vice Chairman, Öhman Björn is the Vice Chairman of Öhman, having previously worked in investment banking as a Managing Director and Partner at Lazard AB and Brummers and Partners. Björn previously served as the Global Head of Corporate Finance at Alfred Berg.

Charlotte Black

Director of Corporate Affairs, Brewin Dolphin Securities LtdCharlotte is the Director of Corporate Affairs for Brewin Dolphin, the largest independent private client portfolio manager in the UK. She is also a Director of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI) and the WMA (formerly APCIMS the industry trade association). Charlotte is a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (MCSI), and of several Advisory Committees in the City, including the Scottish Financial Enterprise Advisory Board and the Euroclear Cross Border Market Advisory Committee (XMAC). Charlotte Black was a Westminster Parliamentary Candidate in 1997.

Haruko Fukuda

Non-Executive Director, Investec Haruko is a non-executive Director of Investec and a former Chairman of Calibre Global Investments Ltd. Haruko is also former director of Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust plc and former Chief Executive of the World Gold Council.

Joanna Shields

Chair, Tech City UK; Non-Executive Director, London Stock ExchangeBaroness Shields is the Chair of Tech City UK and a non-executive Director of the London Stock Exchange. She has been involved with building-up some of the world’s most prominent technology companies such as Google, Facebook, Bebo and AOL. She topped Wired top 100 list of the UK's digital power in 2011, came sixth in the the MediaGuardian 100 in 2012, and was named as one of the most influential women in Britain by Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.

John Barton

Non-Executive Chairman, EasyJet Plc John Barton is the Chairman of EasyJet. He is also currently Chairman of Next plc and Catlin Group Limited. John has previously served as a non-executive Director of WHSmith plc and Wellington Underwriting plc. Following JIB’s merger with Lloyd Thomson, John became Chairman of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc until 2001.

Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise

CEO, Next PlcLord Wolfson is the CEO of high street clothing giant Next Plc - a FTSE 100 company. Lord Wolfson was inducted into the House of Lords in 2010, and is known for his investment in political and philanthropic projects. Most recently he has invested his time and assets into creating affordable housing for the UK’s swelling population.

Mats Arnhog

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Active BiotechMats chairs the Board of Directors of Active Biotech AB and also the Boards of Directors of MGA Holding AB and Rederi AB Sea-Link. A Swedish business leader, Mats is also a Board Member of Ideella Foreningen PrimaGruppen, and serves as Member of Advisory Board of the Stockholm School of Economics.

Michael Moritz

Managing Partner, CatCap Michael is the Managing Partner of CatCap GmbH, having previously worked as a corporate finance consultant at Doertenbach and Co. GmbH in Frankfurt, handling strategic mergers and acquisitions, primarily for medium-sized enterprises and their owners. Michael previously served as member of the medium-sized enterprise advisory board of the German Federal Ministry of Economics, and on the board of trustees of the German Property Foundation (Stiftung Eigentum). He also heads the regulatory Family Entrepreneurs Commission (Kommission der Familienunternehmer) and is a member of the Federal Association of Family Entrepreneurs (Bundessenat der Familienunternehmer).

Sir Rocco Forte

Chairman and Chief Executive, Rocco Forte HotelsSir Rocco is Chairman and Chief Executive of Rocco Forte Hotels, the international luxury hotel chain. Rocco Forte Hotels has a turnover of £90 million and is on the FastTrack 100 list of fastest growing companies.

Tim Martin

Founder and Chairman, J D Wetherspoons PlcTim Martin is Chairman and founder of J D Wetherspoons plc. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a part of the FTSE 250 Index. It has a turnover of over £785 million and operates 900 pubs, employing over 26,000 people across Britain.

Open Europe shows there is a space to be occupied between the proponents of ‘ever closer union’ and those cheering on a breakup of the EU.

€295 bn

If Open Europe proposals for full liberalisation of the EU services market were adopted, EU GDP could be boosted by €295 bn. Partial services liberation has already boosted the EU economy by €101 bn - but it is clear that this an area where the EU should concentrate its efforts to introduce much-needed growth into the EU's economy.Source: Open Europe

70%

Trade liberalisation within the EU is far more developed for goods than for services. This means that, while services account for over 70% of the EU's output, they only make up 20% of the EU's internal trade. Open Europe's proposal to fully liberalise the EU's service sector will make up for this gap, boosting the EU economy by billions.Source: Open Europe

Our Experts

Christopher Howarth

Senior Policy AnalystChristopher joined Open Europe in 2011, taking a leading role in the think tank's policy analysis. He has previously worked for a city law firm and accountancy firms where he specialised in international tax. Immediately prior to joining Open Europe, Christopher worked for a shadow Conservative Europe minister and in the party's research department as their Foreign Affairs adviser. Christopher is a graduate of St Andrew's University in Scotland, the Ecole de Management in Bordeaux, France and of the College of Law, York, where he obtained a post-graduate diploma in law. He speaks intermediate French.See Articles
Follow @CJCHowarth Email: chris@openeurope.org.uk

Mats Persson

DirectorMats Persson is the Director of Open Europe. He is also an Advisory Board Member and Co-founder of Open Europe Berlin gGmbH.

Based on his EU expertise, Mats has advised the UK government and other bodies on numerous European issues, and is the architect of a number of policy-changing proposals. Mats has been recognised as one of ‘99 Influential International Leaders under 33’ by The Diplomatic Courier and by Young Professionals in Foreign Policy.

A frequent contributor to international broadcast and print media, Mats has written extensively on EU issues, including the Eurozone crisis; financial regulation; trade; institutional reform; German politics; Britain in Europe and the EU Budget. Mats is also the author of a blog for the UK’s largest broadsheet paper, The Daily Telegraph.

A native of Sweden, Mats holds a master’s degree from the London School of Economics, and an undergraduate degree from Liberty University in Virginia, where he won an athletic scholarship for basketball. Before joining Open Europe, Mats worked for a political consulting firm in Washington DC.See Articles
Follow @matsJpersson Email: mats@openeurope.org.uk

Nina Schick

Communications DirectorAs Open Europe’s Communications Director, Nina specialises in both EU policy and political communications, leading the radical overhaul of Open Europe’s digital communications strategy. Her policy-areas of interest include Anglo-German relations; Germany’s place in the EU; EU-Russia relations and the digital economy.

Nina is a regular current affairs commentator, with a slot on Monocle 24’s flagship radio programme, ‘Midori House’, and a column for EUobserver. She often appears on international broadcast analysing breaking EU developments.

Nina holds degrees in history and politics from University College London and the University of Cambridge, graduating from both institutions with distinctions. Prior to joining Open Europe, Nina worked in journalism and political research at organisations including BBC Parliament; Spiegel Online; the Sunday Times and UK Parliament.

Pawel Swidlicki

Policy AnalystPawel joined Open Europe in 2011, since establishing himself as an expert and media commentator on a range of issues from the EU budget and EU regional policy, to the role of national parliaments in EU decision making. Pawel also follows how domestic politics in the UK, Poland and Germany impact on these countries' EU policies.

Pawel has worked on Open Europe Intelligence which has informed and shaped policy at both the UK and EU level. These include refocusing the EU budget, identifying an common Anglo-German agenda for EU reform, and changing the rules around EU migrants’ access to benefits to preserve the principle of EU free movement.

Prior to joining Open Europe, Pawel worked in the City for two years and also in Westminster, where he interned for a Lib Dem MP. Pawel holds a BA in History from the University of Leicester - during which he spent a year at the University of Regensburg in Germany - and an MA in International Relations from the University of Nottingham.See Articles
Follow @pswidlicki Email: pawel@openeurope.org.uk

Pieter Cleppe

Head of Brussels OfficePieter is the Head of the Brussels office of Open Europe. A trained lawyer, Pieter previously practiced law in Belgium, and has worked as a cabinet advisor and speechwriter to the Belgian State Secretary for Administrative Reform. Pieter also previously worked as an analyst at the Belgium’s Itinera Institute, which he helped to found. He received his legal training at the Catholic University of Leuven, and also studied law and economics at the universities of Hamburg, Bologna and Vienna. Pieter is fluent in Dutch, English and French. He also speaks German and intermediate Italian.See Articles
Follow @@pietercleppe Email: Pieter@openeurope.org.uk

Raoul Ruparel

Head of Economic Research Raoul Ruparel is Head of Economic Research at Open Europe. He is also a contributing author for Forbes, where he write on EU issues; the Eurozone crisis; central banking and macroeconomics.

Over the past years Raoul has been at the forefront of analysing crucial issues around Europe. He has led Open Europe’s research into the Eurozone crisis, helping to advise governments and corporations on how to deal with the crisis as well as the potential institutional and regulatory response. Raoul has been heavily involved in the economic and financial analysis of the evolving crisis in Ukraine, and the ensuing sanctions placed on Russia. He has also worked extensively on issues relating to EU trade and economic prosperity, as well as the economic impacts of hot political topics such as migration.

On top of his regular articles for Forbes, Raoul is a frequent contributor to the broadcast and print media including, CNBC, Bloomberg, BBC and Sky as well as the FT, WSJ and the Times. Raoul holds two masters degrees in economics and public policy from the University of Chicago and a BA in economics and politics from the University of Manchester. Prior to joining OE, Raoul gained work experience at financial firm Habibbank AG Zurich.See Articles
Follow @OpenEurope Email: raoul@openeurope.org.uk

Stephen Booth

Research DirectorStephen joined Open Europe in 2008 and has been Research Director since 2011. While at Open Europe he has written on EU regulation, justice and home affairs and EU aid policy. Stephen holds an undergraduate degree in political science and was awarded the Jean Monnet Prize for his master's degree in European studies from the University of Sussex. Stephen's professional interests include democracy and transparency in the EU, the interaction between domestic and EU law and European cooperation in crime and policing. He is half Dutch. See Articles
Follow @OpenEurope Email: stephen@openeurope.org.uk

Timm Luebben

Head of DigitalPrior to joining Open Europe in 2012, Timm worked at the European Union Delegation to the United Nations in New York and at the World Affairs Council which is one of the largest and most active foreign policy forums in the US. He holds an MA in international relations from the University of Groningen, and a BA in European Studies from the University of Maastricht, during which he also studied at the University of Oslo. At Open Europe, Timm takes a leading role in digital communications, while also focusing on German politics and economics. He is fluent in German, French, Dutch, and English.See Articles
Follow @OpenEurope Email: timm@openeurope.org.uk

Vincenzo Scarpetta

Policy AnalystVincenzo specialises in the politics and economics of Southern Europe and is a regular commentator in print and broadcast media across Europe. Vincenzo has co-authored policy-changing Open Europe Intelligence on EU free movement, employment law, financial regulation and the European Neighbourhood Policy. He is also an expert on the EU institutions, the Eurozone crisis, and the cost of EU regulation.

Prior to joining Open Europe in 2009, Vincenzo worked at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. An Italian native, he is fluent in French and Spanish, and speaks good German. Vincenzo holds a Master's degree (Hons) in international relations and world politics from the University of Naples "L'Orientale" and a Master's in international affairs from the University of Bologna "Alma Mater Studiorum." He has also worked as a musician, and has a diploma in classical piano from the Conservatory of Music of Avellino - his home town in Italy.See Articles
Follow @LondonerVince Email: vincenzo@openeurope.org.uk

Our team of economists, analysts and commentators come from Britain, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Poland. We speak fourteen languages and cover all of the EU’s policy areas and countries.